Iraq Kurds Use Army to Boost Control of Kirkuk Oilfields - Bloomberg

Iraq Kurds Use Army to Boost Control of Kirkuk Oilfields - Bloomberg:



"Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurds increased their control over oil resources in the north of the country after deploying armed forces to the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan oilfields.



Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control of the two sites at the country’s fourth-biggest oil field today and ordered workers from Iraq’s state-run North Oil Co. to leave, the Oil Ministry said in an e-mailed statement. The Kurdistan Regional Government said in response that it acted to prevent the central government damaging an oil export pipeline. The Oil Ministry in Baghdad denied the claim. 




“Given the political context, the Kurds are solidifying their control,” Richard Mallinson, an analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd., said by e-mail from London. “The Kurds have signaled their intentions to start moving Kirkuk oil through their pipeline network,” and this is another step toward making their ambitions a reality, he said."



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